Christie calls for fairness in immigration reform, slams Obamacare

View full sizeGov. Chris Christie, shown here with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal at a campaign rally in Baton Rouge in 2011, joined Jindal, Mike Pence of Indiana and Scott Walker of Wisconsin for a panel discussion at the Aspen Institute in Colorado.Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie tonight said "we have to be fair" to immigrants in this country illegally and called the federal Affordable Care Act a "sad legacy" for President Barack Obama.

During a wide-ranging discussion with other Republican governors in Aspen, Colo., Christie stressed his seven years as a federal prosecutor when asked about the U.S. Senate immigration bill that stalled in the House.

"The simple fact is they’re not leaving and we don’t have the wherewithal to make them do it," Christie told an audience sitting under a white tent at the nonprofit Aspen Institute forum. "And so we’re going to have to come up a solution."

While Christie declined to take a position on the bill, he called failed amendments on border security and expanding E-verify missed opportunities.

"You need to provide people with confidence that the system’s going to be fair and that means everybody," Christie said. "That doesn’t mean just American citizens, also those people who are here, the 11, 12 million you’re talking about. The fact is we have to be fair to them also."

"Allowing the system to continue in the broken way that it is now is negative for America’s economy and it’s also bad for these folks who now have had children in this country and some of them grandchildren in this country," Christie added. "And we’re not being fair to them either."

On Obamacare, Christie said he has expanded Medicaid eligibility for New Jersey residents under Obama’s administration, but that he twice vetoed health exchanges, a major tenant of the president’s health care plan.

"This is what happens when you use Parliamentary maneuvers to jam an absolute sea change in American life down the throats of the American people with bare majorities and not one Republican vote," Christie said during the event, which was streamed live. "I think it’s going to wind up being a sad legacy."

Although Christie famously praised Obama for his leadership during Hurricane Sandy, he has slammed him for failing to work with Republicans in Congress, and specifically House Speaker John Boehner.

"The only person in Washington who can bring the parties together is the president of the United States," Christie said. "He didn’t try early enough. First impressions matter in these jobs."

Christie was joined by Mike Pence of Indiana, and Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana who are all in town for the Republican Governors Association’s annual donor meetings. He stood out in a pink dress shirt next to three governors in dark blazers.

Before the event, the campaign of Christie’s Democratic challenger, Barbara Buono, put out a YouTube video highlighting Pence, Walker and North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s anti-abortion rights policies and history of defunding Planned Parenthood.

"Christie should spend more time with New Jerseyans. Not right-wing conservatives," the narration says, behind photos of Christie with fellow GOP governors.

Christie is at the top of the list of 11 potential candidates for the GOP nomination in 2016, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. Walker and Jindal rank near the bottom with 1 and 2 percent of voters, while 15 percent of those surveyed favor Christie; 25 percent were undecided. The poll surveyed 357 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents from July 15 to July 18, with a margin of error of 5.2 percentage points.